After a client passes, their spouse often brings a box of papers to our first meeting at my Manhattan office. Tucked inside, among the deeds
A client calls us from Brooklyn. Her father passed away with a small bank account, a car, and some personal belongings. There was no real
When a Brooklyn spouse passes away suddenly without executing a will, the surviving partner almost always assumes everything transfers to them automatically. The shock arrives
When an eldest sibling in Brooklyn decides to clear out their late parents’ home over a long weekend, the intention is usually practical. They rent
When an executor for a Brooklyn family walks into a bank to open an account for the estate, they are stopped at the first step.
A family in Brooklyn has owned the same brownstone for nearly 50 years. The deed is in the parents’ names, and they have poured their
A grieving daughter walks into a Manhattan bank branch with her father’s original Last Will and Testament, a death certificate, and the expectation that she
When a client walks into my office after being named executor in a parent’s will, their first question is almost always the same: “How long
A father in Brooklyn wants to add his adult daughter to the deed of the family brownstone. He believes it will help her avoid probate
A client sat in my Manhattan office last week, wrestling with a decision I’ve seen hundreds of times. She’s built a successful business from the
A client—a tech executive in Manhattan with a family home in the city and a weekend place on Long Island—recently asked me, “Russel, my will
A son recently came to my Manhattan office holding his late father’s will. It was perfectly executed, clear, and left the entire estate to him,
A client from Manhattan recently came to my office. He had established a significant trust for his children years ago, intending for the assets to
A son in Manhattan is named executor of his father’s will. His sister, who lives in California, starts calling every week. “Did you sell the
When an executor walks into our Madison Avenue office clutching a death certificate and an original will, the first question is rarely about the legal
I’ve seen it happen more than once. A family comes to my office with a will their parent downloaded and signed at a local bank.
I once worked with the surviving co-founder of a successful Manhattan software company. His partner, a brilliant developer, had died suddenly. They had never signed
Years after her aunt passed away in Queens, a client of mine received a letter from a “finder” service offering to recover lost money for
A few years ago, a family came to our firm after their mother passed away. They were preparing to sell her Brooklyn brownstone—the home she’d
When a Manhattan executive suffers a severe stroke at age fifty-eight, his family faces an immediate crisis that has nothing to do with medicine. The
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent unexpectedly, the immediate grief is often interrupted by a harsh financial reality. The funeral director requires a deposit
A client once came to our Manhattan office with his late father’s will. It was a single page, typed, and signed. But the signature was
When a Manhattan executive passes away leaving a primary residence on the Upper East Side, a banking portfolio in Geneva, and a family home in
A client came to my Manhattan office with a common and thoughtful question. She had spent decades building a significant collection of Russian art and
I often see families in our Manhattan office make a well-intentioned but risky decision. An aging parent, looking to simplify things, adds an adult child’s
A client once asked me if he could put instructions for cryogenic preservation in his will. He was half-joking, but his question points to a
A few months ago, a prospective client sat in my Manhattan office, frustrated. His mother had passed away nearly a year earlier, leaving a seemingly
When a Manhattan family loses a parent whose only estate planning was a simple will drafted twenty years ago, the next nine to twelve months
A family in Suffolk County receives a formal notice from the Surrogate’s Court. Their father has passed away, and his will has been filed. One
A client of mine, a retired executive in Manhattan, once faced a difficult situation. His wife, who had always managed their finances, suffered a stroke
